Rwanda: Presidential candidate removed as head of PS-Imberakuri hits back at RPF

By AFP
March 18, 2010

KIGALI (AFP) – Bernard Ntaganda, a Rwandan opposition politician who intends to run in the August presidential poll, has been removed as the head of his party PS Imberakuri, state radio reported Thursday.

"The decision was taken to remove him" at an extraordinary meeting in Kigali, the party's deputy chief Christine Mukabunane said.

Mukabunane, little known on the Rwandan political scene, will head the party until a new chairperson is elected in two months time.

PS Imberakuri is the only Rwandan opposition party to have been registered by the Rwandan government.

The party has been divided ever since it was set up, with some members accusing Ntaganda of "genocidal ideology".

Since last month he has also been accused, by party members opposed to him, of having links to the people behind recent grenade attacks in the capital.

In a statement Tuesday, Ntaganda accused the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (FPR) of being behind repeated attempts to remove him as party chief, with the aim of "destroying" PS Imberakuri.

Ntaganda is a lawyer and the former head of a well-known Rwandan football club. Until he founded PS Imberakuri in January 2009, he was a member of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), which is aligned to the FPR.